TE450 Adventure Machine?

[barnyard]

Originally Posted by geomeo

Two bikes appear to be the best solution.... how many 200 mile days in succession did you do or would be possible on a 450?

Not many.

I had a custom seat and a larger tank. Vibrates way too much on road to be comfortable for any length of time. I tried to do the same and sold it. It is a way fun race bike and having a plate to connect trails is nice, but dual sporting it is pushing it to do something that it is not suited to.

[smr238]

I have a te510 and agree that if you are doing any signifigant streaches of road its not the bike for the job. You may want to look at the wr250r. It will run 60 mph all day, has a balanced engine, and goes 6000k miles between valve adjustments.

[geomeo]

Originally Posted by barnyard

Dual sporting it is pushing it to do something that it is not suited to.

You are correct and Husqvarna should not market it as a DS. With road tires and drive cog 13>15 one could 'cruise' along at 50 mph. But that would be the maximum.

[barnyard]

The one I bought came with a set of "road" sprokets and it did 65 mph without too much difficulty. It vibrated like a mofo and the 5 miles of pavement that I did at that speed were enough to tell me, "No more." It was fantastic riding single track though. The narrow range trans meant that there was a gear for about any condition.

[geomeo]

Originally Posted by smr238

I have a te510 and agree that if you are doing any signifigant streaches of road its not the bike for the job. .

Two bikes are needed for the best experience. That is a light 250 lb bike for the snow and a twin 650-800 for the long haul. You guys have been a great help and a fantastic resource.

[Adv Grifter]

You don't need two bikes ... just one that is suited for what you think you want to do. Snow riding on ANY bike is pretty much impossible without studded tires or a Sno-track conversion. So forget that. You can maybe go in up to a 6 inches or a foot ... much deeper can get tough.

As mentioned earlier ... something like the DRZ400S is a good compromise. Or ... take my choice: Suzuki DR650, the old tech wonder.

Most posters here talked about the horrendous vibes and short gearing of the Husky ... but for TRAVEL ... there are OTHER considerations.. What about luggage. And comfort?

Go try and put on 200 lbs. (your figure) on any TE Husky or KTM. Or did you mean 200 lbs. ... including rider? Both the DR650 and DRZ can handle a fair load and many aftermarket seats are offered.

The DR650 (with a good seat!) can maintain 80 mph all day long in relative Low Vibe comfort. I've done many 400 mile days, back to back to back. I've cut down on my luggage, now only haul about 65 lbs. on the bike. (clothes, tools, parts, tubes, spare tire, food, water) Add 12 lbs. for camping gear, which I sometimes carry. With a light load it's not bad off road. No Husky ... but I'm not riding Enduros ... I'm traveling ... mostly on paved or dirt roads or easy two track or Desert Pistes. DR is good in all.

Both Suzuki's can handle this sort of duty and typically will go over 50,000 miles trouble free, with very low maintenance. Not Race Bikes!

I've ridden the TE450 in the Mojave Desert. I loved it, but would never try to do long distance on one. A TE450 riding friend rode along with me on a two day Dual Sport event in NorCal ... at day's end he was hammered. Dead exhausted. I went to the bar!

Sure, he was faster in the mud, rocky technical sections of the ride ... but I'd pass him on fast pavement or at gas stops ... I have 230 mile range. He could go about 100 miles.

Bottom Line:
Horses For Courses!

[NorCalslowpoke]

I've got a 2007 510

Echoing almost all of the comments.

I originally purchased it as a light plated bike for dual sport riding. It matches this well...but...every modification I've made has been to tame it to be more like a DRZ400, but with more power.

The gearing: As stated, sucks for actual adv riding. If they only made the 6th gear way tall, it would be fine. Leave the 1st 5 gears narrow, they work great in the dirt. In most cases there are 2 gear options due to the narrow spacing. You could carry a larger front sprocket and change for the particular days riding. I geared it way tall for a week+ long baja trip, worked fine for most of it, but 1st was too high for some of it.

Vibes: No counter balancer. It is more vibey than I would like...but...as I have posted prior...3 things have helped: Vibranators in the bars (tons of help), Progrip 714 grips and...when I had the head/piston off I lowered the compression a tad by having the piston shaved 30 thou (per a Scott Summers article). Not as smooth as a DRZ etc, but now it is tolerable.

Seat, stock one sucks for adv will have to be changed.

So...as a very light duty adv bike...maybe...better if you are trailering and then doing long dirt loops that require a plate.

I've also had overheating (now fixed), suspension, and clutch issues over the years. Maybe the newer ones are better.

Check out the 610's...

[bobnoxious67]

Of course Husky can market it as a dual sport...it's a street legal bike that can be ridden in the dirt (well, more like a dirt bike that can be ridden on the street).

An auto clutch and 15/52 gearing (1 tooth higher than stock 13/47) have helped bridge the woods/street gap, but it's still a dirt bike with a lot of compression, no counterbalancer, and no cush drive.

A 610 will do what you want

[buls4evr]

And no one has mentioned the horrible fuel mileage that they get..... Unplug that thing and it consumes gas like a 2 stroke! You heed a safari tank to go as far as a Dizzer goes on the 2.5 tank. That is a real failure.

[barnyard]

Originally Posted by buls4evr

And no one has mentioned the horrible fuel mileage that they get..... Unplug that thing and it consumes gas like a 2 stroke! You heed a safari tank to go as far as a Dizzer goes on the 2.5 tank. That is a real failure.

Actually, for a race bike, I thought it got pretty good mileage. With the stock tank, I could easily do 80-90 miles of really, tight, twisty, single track. I never really paid that close attention because I never came close to running out of gas on it.

[buls4evr]

Guy I rode with in NM had a 510 with a 3 gal tank and could do only 110 miles to dry! Do the math.... That is lousy compared to what everyone else was riding. Under 40 mpg compared to Jap bikes in mid 50s and up.

[VxZeroKnots]

Sounds like a poor tune. Mine gets around 30-35mpg when being screamed WFO all day on single track. With road work or double track I get much better mileage, well above 40...

When I first started messing with tuningI ran out of gas a couple times because the fuel mileage was in the low 20's if not teens from poor settings.

Now I'm in the low 30's again for trail work, don't ride much DS stuff with it anymore.

The small bore TE platform makes a bad dual sport, IMHO, because of the transmission; the spacing is too close. Compared to an LC4 the engine is smooth as glass, and the subframe on them is pretty substantial, much more beefy than anything on a KTM.

They also have about the same oil capacity as a DRZ so no worries there.

[TrailPunter]

The true beauty of the TE250/450/510 is that they are real live dirt bikes that just happen to have a plate. And they are great at being just that. Every one that has ridden my 250 loves it. Even the guys that bleed Orange. Here in Southern California in the name of crowd control we have dirt roads that are labeled as city streets, country roads, and even a couple of state highways. Look at the OHV maps for any of the local SoCal riding areas. Gorman, Rowler, Big Bear, Anza/Idyllwild, Corral Canyon, McCain Valley, and even Anza Borrego. You will see sections of dirt road that say "Only street legal vehicles allowed" Connecting trails legally has opened up huge numbers of possible rides, and I'm very happy with my 250's ability to do this. Yes, the gearing sucks on the road. However it's really nice to go to a place like Big Bear or Mammoth and be able to explore the whole area without having to truck the bike from trail to trail. Oh, and I get between 50 and 60 mpg with the JD jetting kit.

[geomeo]

thank you sanjo

Originally Posted by sanjoh

I've changed the cogs on my TE450 and can say that it does not make a good dualsport. 17t in the front, taking off in first gear must use revs to keep from stalling. 55mph still revs the motor, it will do over 100 with the gearing!

Plus you are going to need to extend the fuel range. Find a different bike or if you could change the trans ratios that might work.

[geomeo]

thank you Sam

Originally Posted by sanjoh

I've changed the cogs on my TE450 and can say that it does not make a good dualsport. 17t in the front, taking off in first gear must use revs to keep from stalling. 55mph still revs the motor, it will do over 100 with the gearing!

Plus you are going to need to extend the fuel range. Find a different bike or if you could change the trans ratios that might work.

Originally Posted by smr238

I have a te510 and agree that if you are doing any signifigant streaches of road its not the bike for the job. You may want to look at the wr250r. It will run 60 mph all day, has a balanced engine, and goes 6000k miles between valve adjustments.